1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to automotive accessories, and in particular to an apparatus for assisting a driver in aligning the ball hitch of a towing vehicle with the socket hitch of the towed vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Large numbers of recreation vehicles are towed about the country on a regular basis. These recreation vehicles include boats on trailers, trailers or campers with living facilities, and collapsible tents on wheels. Each will have a tongue and a hitch for coupling to a mating hitch on the towing vehicle, which is usually an automobile or a pickup.
Hitching the vehicles together can be difficult. In many cases, the towed vehicle's tongue weight is too heavy for a person to easily move the trailer about. This requires precise alignment of the ball hitch with the trailer socket. Normally this is handled by someone giving the driver directions as he backs the towing vehicle toward the trailer. Sometimes a person is not available for giving directions. Also, providing the directions is not easy.
Proposals have been made in the patented art to provide devices to assist in aligning the vehicle. For example, note U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,756, Dito, Apr. 22, 1980; 3,901,536, Black, Aug. 26, 1975 and 3,159,917, Whitehead, Dec. 8, 1964. To the inventor's knowledge, there are no devices such as shown in these patents, or any other aligning devices, available on the market today. A need exists for a simple, inexpensive and effective device to assist in aligning hitches of a towed vehicle.